posted at 11:21 am on October 25, 2013 by Allahpundit

I don’t know where to begin. Wait, yes I do. What they’re recommending is illegal:

As long as these substantial technology glitches persist, we are losing valuable time to educate and enroll people in insurance plans. Our constituents are frustrated, and we fear that the longer the website is not functional, opportunities for people to log on, learn about their insurance choices, and enroll will be lost.

Given the existing problems with healthcare.gov and other state-run marketplace websites that depend on the federally-administered website, we urge you to consider extending open enrollment beyond the current end date of March 31, 2014. Extending this period will give consumers critical time in which to become familiar with the website and choose a plan that is best for them. Individuals should not be penalized for lack of coverage if they are unable to purchase health insurance due to technical problems.

They’re not offering to pass a bill to extend the enrollment deadline. They’re asking Sebelius to do it herself. But under the statute, it’s too late for that; the Secretary of HHS was required to set the date by July 1, 2012. Sebelius chose March 31, 2014. If she tries to change that now, she’s guilty of the same flagrant illegality as Obama when he decided unilaterally to delay the employer mandate, which is also required by the statute. But that won’t stop her. After all, if her boss can to defy separation of powers on grounds that doin’ good for the people permits him to ignore statutes he’s tasked with enforcing (a statute which, in this case, he himself signed into law), why can’t she?

But never mind that. After he ignored the War Powers Act to attack Qaddafi and trashed the employer mandate this summer, the principle that Obama can disregard the law when it’s politically convenient for him is now well established. What I want to know is why you have 10 Democrats in the Senate endorsing a delay plan that’ll almost certainly make ObamaCare’s problems worse, not better. Revisit this post if you don’t know why. Extending the enrollment period will only increase the risk of driving up premiums by easing the pressure on healthy people to enroll soon and by giving those who fall ill or have an accident next year extra time to sign up and force insurers to cover them. It’s an amazing testament to how unserious red-state Democrats are about their big domestic “achievement” that they’re willing to endorse a proposal that risks cocking up the program further just because the politics of it (“you can’t penalize people if the website doesn’t work!”) happen to be good right now.

Note the number, too. Ten Democrats pushes McConnell and the Senate GOP within striking distance of beating a filibuster to pass an extension of the enrollment deadline if they can figure out a way to bring it to the floor. CNN reported recently that they expect all 16 Dems who are up for reelection next year to support something like that if it’s proposed, which, if true, would mean that there are indeed 60 votes to do this. The big question now: Should Republicans back it, knowing that it’ll only deepen the insurance crisis caused by O-Care, or should they push for a delay of the entire law, which would ease the crisis but which dopey Democrats won’t accept for political reasons? Writing at Red State, Erick Erickson says it’s time to let the law take effect, i.e. to let it burn:

The only way Obamacare would ever work is if people behaved irrationally. It is a system that requires the young to go out and by their own insurance, but allows them to stay on their parents’ insurance until they are well into their twenties. The law operates only if people do not behave like people.

Republicans should be opposed to any and all fixes of Obamacare. The GOP should not lift even half a finger to accommodate Democrat demands for changes. The Democrats planned and implemented Obamacare without a single Republican vote. They made clear they did not need the votes. They used a budgetary procedure in the Senate to get around a filibuster after the people of Massachusetts sent a Republican in Ted Kennedy’s steed to try to stop it.

So the Democrats can own it. They can own every deleted application, every delayed entry into the website, every denial of insurance, every decline in full time work, and every denial of care that comes from this horrible law.

How does that calculus apply to extending the enrollment deadline, though? It’s intended as a “fix” but in practice it’ll likely increase the damage from the law. A “let it burn” supporter should, as such, join with the Democrats in backing it then, right? If you’re in the “let it burn” camp, though, then arguably you’re what Ted Cruz would call a “Bad Samaritan,” standing aside while the law takes effect and wreaks havoc on an unsuspecting public. Interestingly, because of the death-spiral potential from an enrollment extension, the GOP could honestly oppose it on grounds that they’re being Good Samaritans by refusing to let the law do even more damage than it would if the Democrats’ “fix” is approved. But that would be a tough sell; given the depth of public ignorance about the law, explaining that you’re actually helping them by refusing to give them extra time to sign up for insurance would be deeply confusing. So what’s the play? I’m interested to see how Cruz, who rejected the “let it burn” approach a few days ago, thinks the party should proceed. Maybe hold out for a delay of the entire law instead of just the mandate or the enrollment period? A month from now, if Healthcare.gov is still a wreck, Obama might have no choice but to consider that.

Blowback

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CNN reported recently that they expect all 16 Dems who are up for reelection next year to support something like that if it’s proposed, which, if true, would mean that there are indeed 60 votes to do this. The big question now: Should Republicans back it, knowing that it’ll only deepen the insurance crisis caused by O-Care, or should they push for a delay of the entire law, which would ease the crisis but which dopey Democrats won’t accept for political reasons?

If I’m the GOP, I demand a one-year delay of the entire law, period. Otherwise let it burn. Personally I hope they just let it burn. Obama and the Dems had their chance to do the right thing during the shutdown, but they chose to focus on scoring cheap political points instead. Now they can reap the rewards from from their “victory”.

Oh, and in case you are curious but don’t want to look, Front page of the Huffington Post has not had one article on the front page with the words “Obamacare” or “Affordable” on it in 2 days. Denile ain’t just a river….

I’m going to reprise my question from a previous post, just because it still puzzles me a bit:
If the Obama administration knew that the rollout was going to be a mess, with attendant political fallout, why didn’t they just take the Republican offer to delay the whole thing for a year? Of course that would be seen by libs as “caving” to right-wing nuts, but the administration could have easily played it as being forced to postpone health care nirvana to avoid the economic disaster of a shutdown, with the Republicans being portrayed as a party so vile as to be willing to usher in economic chaos unless needy Americans were denied “health care.” That kind of schtick is the only thing Obama does well. In the additional year the administration could have tried to make the rollout less of a fiasco, and in return for the delay of his signature program, he may even have been able to drive a harder bargain with Republicans. From a purely political standpoint (the only standpoint Obama ever seems to take), wouldn’t that have been the smarter move?

Delaying the individual mandate or extending the enrollment period does NOTHING to change the underlying problems with Obamacare like skyrocketing premiums. A delay will only delay the sticker shock…possibly past the 2014 elections, which is why Red State Dems are willing to do it.

A delay has nothing to do with being a Good Samaritan. At this point, it is a crass political calculation by Democrats, who are afraid of their constituents.

I thought the same thing at the time of the shutdown/debt ceiling imbroglio. The Dems should’ve taken the gift at the time. That’s why anything less than a full delay should be unacceptable now and even that is giving them a reprieve but at least would it temporarily avoid the inevitable death spiral. Then again, when your opponent is driving over a cliff, it’s a good idea to get the hell out of the way.

Delaying the individual mandate or extending the enrollment period does NOTHING to change the underlying problems with Obamacare like skyrocketing premiums. A delay will only delay the sticker shock…possibly past the 2014 elections, which is why Red State Dems are willing to do it.

A delay has nothing to do with being a Good Samaritan. At this point, it is a crass political calculation by Democrats, who are afraid of their constituents.

Resist We Much on October 25, 2013 at 11:40 AM

Bingo – and Ted Cruz needs to expose these idiots for what they represent…..
Because John Boner or McLame won’t….

(Washington, DC) – As Americans continue to experience technical difficulties with federal and state health insurance enrollment, a coalition of U.S. Senators led by Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) is calling on Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to extend the open enrollment period to give Americans more time to obtain health insurance coverage.

“As long as these substantial technology glitches persist, we are losing valuable time to educate and enroll people in insurance plans,” read the letter signed by Shaheen along with U.S. Sens. Mark Begich (D-AK), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Kay Hagan (D-NC), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Mark Udall (D-CO), Tom Udall (D-NM), Michael Bennet (D-CO), and Martin Heinrich (D-NM). “Our constituents are frustrated, and we fear that the longer the website is not functional, opportunities for people to log on, learn about their insurance choices, and enroll will be lost.”

The letter sent today reiterates Shaheen’s earlier call to extend open enrollment if the technological glitches persist with healthcare.gov. An extended open enrollment deadline “will give consumers critical time in which to become familiar with the website and choose a plan that is best for them,” the Senators said.

The full text of the Senators’ letter is below:

Dear Secretary Sebelius:

When fully implemented, the Affordable Care Act represents a bold step forward in reforming our nation’s health care system. It has the potential to improve the quality of care we all receive and provides the opportunity for millions of Americans to purchase quality, affordable health insurance.

The newly created federal and state health insurance marketplaces are intended to allow consumers the opportunity to compare health insurance options and find a plan that fits their needs and their budgets. For three years, we have been eagerly waiting for the launch of these marketplaces. However, now that the marketplaces are open, we have become discouraged and frustrated with the problems and interactions that are occurring with the Affordable Care Act’s federally-administered website, healthcare.gov.

As long as these substantial technology glitches persist, we are losing valuable time to educate and enroll people in insurance plans. Our constituents are frustrated, and we fear that the longer the website is not functional, opportunities for people to log on, learn about their insurance choices, and enroll will be lost.

Given the existing problems with healthcare.gov and other state-run marketplace websites that depend on the federally-administered website, we urge you to consider extending open enrollment beyond the current end date of March 31, 2014. Extending this period will give consumers critical time in which to become familiar with the website and choose a plan that is best for them. Individuals should not be penalized for lack of coverage if they are unable to purchase health insurance due to technical problems.

The Affordable Care Act has already had a significant impact on the lives of millions of Americans; seniors are now paying less for their prescription drugs, critical preventive care services are available for free and important work is being done to improve the quality of care we receive. Americans will now have the opportunity to receive tax credits to purchase quality health insurance, and starting in January 2014, insurance companies will no longer be able to deny health coverage because of a pre-existing condition or drop coverage if someone is sick.

We appreciate your efforts to fully implement this law and look forward to working with you to accomplish that goal. Thank you for considering our requests to extend the open enrollment period if the healthcare.gov substantial technology glitches continue.

If you’re in the “let it burn” camp, though, then arguably you’re what Ted Cruz would call a “Bad Samaritan,” standing aside while the law takes effect and wreaks havoc on an unsuspecting public.

Hmm. I thought it would be at least a year before Cruz went to RINO camp.

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m with Erick Erickson on this. Let it burn. Voters have to live with the consequences of their actions, and I’m not in favor of any “fix” that would hasten the advent of single-payer.

We tried all the possible ways to junk the law, and a few that were essentially impossible. Time to hang ‘em up, buy some popcorn, and wait for 2014.

I’m going to reprise my question from a previous post, just because it still puzzles me a bit:
If the Obama administration knew that the rollout was going to be a mess, with attendant political fallout, why didn’t they just take the Republican offer to delay the whole thing for a year?

SacredFire on October 25, 2013 at 11:37 AM

Two reasons. First, Obama is such a narcissist that he cannot allow his enemies a political victory, especially if it’s a Tea Party type like Ted Cruz. Look at how he melted down in public over losing the sequester showdown. And that wasn’t the signature legislation of his administration.

The second reason is that he’s so arrogant and delusional from having been handed everything in life and never spending a day in the real world that he really did believe this would just magically work once implemented.

So the next time the debt limit or a government shutdown looms, those Democrat Senators will vote with Republicans to delay ObamaCare, right? And Obama won’t be able to say the Republicans are the ones who shut down the government due to failure to negotiate, right? No, I don’t think so.

So the next time the debt limit or a government shutdown looms, those Democrat Senators will vote with Republicans to delay ObamaCare, right? And Obama won’t be able to say the Republicans are the ones who shut down the government due to failure to negotiate, right? No, I don’t think so.

Fenris on October 25, 2013 at 11:50 AM

And that is why the dems (socialists) are so frantic…..

They want to be the ones to vote for a delay and use that to trump up their position when the debt limit comes back around in less than 2 months…..

The Democrats and the Administration are in a real bind. They’ll have to delay more than just the mandate. If they delay the mandate in anticipation of the website overhaul, in the meantime all of the people without individual policies who were dropped will have no coverage at all. Why? Because the law required insurers to drop them.

Let it burn. If the foolish repubs delay the law and next year the premiums are astronomical (which they will be), the Lame Stream and BO will simply say the higher rates were caused by the repubs……and the LIV will believe it.

The lib’s calling for the delay should be toast since they could have voted with the repub during the faux shutdown….they didn’t. Now they are squirming around like gerbils in Barney Franks underwear.

I believe if I read correctly, the individual mandate really only impacts 14 million who do not have employer based insurance or a gov’t program–can you imagine what this out-crying would be like if the tyrant hadn’t suspended the biz mandate for a year…GEEZ.

The House can pass a complete delay for the whole law until Ocober 2014 just as they have before. The GOP in the Senate can support a mandate delay. In Conference Committee to iron out differences, they can try to make something that causes less damage. It is poor politics to take a let the people suffer because they deserve it stance. On the positive side, if lots of people see the cost of premiums and deductibles going right through the roof right before the mid-term elections, as General Patton would say “They will know what to do.”

I think it’s more a matter of them believing the media will cover them in any eventuality. If they refused to back down to the GOP knowing the plan was going to fail this poorly, they had to have thought, no big deal, the media will spin it. Having cake and eating it too, etc. Show no weakness, etc.

So, they either really had no idea it would be hard for the media yo spin or that it would fail to this magnitude right out of the blocks.

This law is lost. The surge failed. What’s the exit strategy? Why won’t the President give us a timeline?

txhsmom on October 25, 2013 at 12:21 PM

Your comments the last few days have been epic. I copied a comment from hawkdriver’s Facebook page quoting you and used it on a lefty channel on live leak about the rollout and shutdown. Your comment pretty much stopped comments.

I have not been able to find the thread here where it was originally copied from though.

The Democratic Party shoved this thing through Congress against the minority and against what they were hearing in their Districts and States.

It must be absolutely perfect! Really that is the only reason to go through all that.

Thus, being perfect, it needs no amending.

What Obamacare is, amongst other things, is a demonstration of Congress writing a software procurement with hard goals and deadlines. Congress must have oodles of experience to put such a law together to make, by law, software work by certain dates able to do things that they described.

Democrats were given a lifeline by Republicans during the ‘shutdown’ of either defunding the thing or extending the mandate time.

They chose to push the lifeline away.

It was pointed out they were heading into a whirlpool, but they refused to negotiate on anything. They pushed away help. They said ‘screw you’ to those pushing for getting Obamacare defunded or even delayed.

That card is no longer on the table.

That lifeline is gone.

This is the law they wanted, they backed, they clung to against all good sense, and pushed away anyone who criticized it with the worst slurs you can imagine.

Now it is theirs.

Yes, Let It Burn.

It is the altar flame that will start to eat into the House of Progressivism filled with flammable programs and schemes that run deeply in the red. There is much that can be consumed by such flames. Expose the lies given to the American People over decades. You cannot do that with this rotten structure but it is, luckily, filled with flammable materials with which to get back to a foundation. A sturdy foundation. A durable foundation. One hidden by the lies, deceit and piles of bills that have been put off for future generations to pay.

How about stopping the spending?

How about paying our bills?

How about balancing the budget?

How about not putting our children into servitude of spendthrift government?

There is much, much pain involved.

Luckily the Democrats are adhering to the most painful of objects and only now aware of what it will truly cause. Sucks to be them. They could have moderated their stances for the good of the People. They didn’t. This is not a problem of one party or another, but of both parties being unwilling to face the music of what they have made. If partisanship starts the flames, so be it. It will consume all of those continuing to practice these bad old ways from the buggy whip era.

America was once so deep in debt that no one thought it could ever be paid back. And then it only took 10% and 15% fled to start it… how could these lowly people ever pay back the debt they owed?

The government got really small and the people prospered, the debt was paid against all odds.

Pain was involved then. Pain will be involved now. Stupidity always brings pain. We are stuck on stupid in DC. For that to change you will get pain. The only thing worse than getting rid of this monstrosity is trying to FIX IT.

I’m not in the let it burn camp. But I’m also not in the camp of people willing to give any cover to the Dems on this.

If the Dems want this to pass, then they’re going to have to pass it. This bill is going to have to start in the Senate. Boehner should disappear on this issue. Reid’s going to have to get up in front of his caucus and push them to vote for it.

Then the GOP should loudly remind everyone that they tried to pass this same thing (or something very similar) several weeks ago and were rewarded for their efforts with a government shutdown.

After that, they should vote their conscience. I don’t have a problem with someone from the GOP who votes either way on this bill. Hard to argue with trying to make the Dems live with their stupid law. But it’s also hard to justify voting against something you voted for just a few weeks ago.

Then, once it passes the Senate, Boehner should pass it in the House, again reminding everyone that the GOP tried to pass this a few weeks ago and were rewarded with a government shutdown. But, being the responsible party, and the party that cares about the citizens, they’re not holding grudges against the Democrats and will vote for the delay again.

1) Send those 10 Senate Democrats a letter with the clear text of the Constitution that states that the making and changing of laws rests with Congress, not the Executive Branch. Any further urging on their part for the Executive Branch to violate the Constitution shall be construed as SEDITION and shall be handled accordingly.

2) Propose sending a bill through the House that will delay the implementation of Obamacare, with the provision that all waivers and exemptions shall be considered null and void and that any further illegal un-Constitutional alteration of the clear text of the ACA LAW shall be considered a HIGH CRIME and act of SEDITION and will be handled accordingly.

Republicans fought the special treatment Congress was getting by forcing Americans to pay 70% of their millionaire politicians’ health care premiums.

Repulicans fought the 2,200 Un-Constitutional Obamacare waivers.

Republicans fought for equality for all Americans, asking for a 1 year delay for EVERYONE.

For that, Obama called the GOP ‘terrorists’, ‘arsonists’, ‘extortionists’, and ‘blackmailers’.

NOW, as Obama’s Legacy not only self-destructs on a grand scale in front of the whole world but exposes the complete and utter incompetence of Obama and his cast of clowns he brought in to help run the government, the Same President and Democrats who called the GOP those vile names for asking for a delay in the implementation of Obamacare ARE ASKING FOR A DELAY IN OBAMACARE!

If I were the GOP right now I would tell Obama, Sebelius, and all the other Liberals, “OH NO! You fought for this POS. You demonized us over this POS! You wanted it – you got it. No delay, let ‘er ride! Embrace the $uck! Oh, and good luck to all the Democrats who supported this disaster in the upcoming elections!”

Right now, what these 10 Democrat Senators seem to be worried about is the possibility that, due to the website problems, people might be fined (or taxed, per John Roberts) for not buying insurance that the website prevents them from buying.

But extending the enrollment period doesn’t solve the problem of people having their previous health insurance cancelled because it doesn’t meet Obamacare requirements, while they are unable to buy health insurance that does meet Obamacare requirements due to the website problems.

The problems in logging on the website are also masking the larger problems of huge increases in premiums and deductibles for private health insurance which qualifies under Obamacare, which most people have yet to experience.

Republicans could go along with an extension in the enrollment period for now.

If the website problems are resolved and more people become shocked at the increases in their premiums and deductibles, when the Continuing Resolution funding the government expires in January, Republicans should propose only funding the government if implementation of the entire law (including individual mandate and requirements of qualifying private insurance policies) are delayed for the duration of the Continuing Resolution. This would enable people to be covered under their previous health insurance during the interim (to prevent implosion of the health insurance industry), and time for people to fully experience the “sticker shock” and DEMAND that the entire law be repealed.

If the Obama administration knew that the rollout was going to be a mess, with attendant political fallout, why didn’t they just take the Republican offer to delay the whole thing for a year?
SacredFire on October 25, 2013 at 11:37 AM

It is unlikely that Obama could conceive that his website would not work. He decreed there would be free health care and a website that would be as easy to use as Kayak or Amazon. It would be inconceivable to him this would not happen.

Beohner should remind his Democrat Senate colleagues of the bill the house passed about two weeks ago delaying the individual mandate for one year. It looks like they have enough votes to pass it now, even though three weeks ago the Democrats sut down the gvt rather than pass it. Surely there must be some mechanism to bring the bill to the floor.